We spent Saturday afternoon on shore where Windsor found a playmate, a Golden Doodle who looked like Ellie, and they played hard for about an hour. We took a short walk before showering, watching a few shows and going to bed. It was chilly and numerous quick showers pelted us, so cuddling up and watching some TV was about all we could do. Sunday we did laundry after watching a few sermons, then we walked the park and talked to a few people on shore before walking to the end of the canal where it dumped in to the Niagara River. Then we headed back to the boat where we had dinner and watched some TV.

Monday morning after I had finished work, we walked over to the Carousel Museum and spent a wonderful few hours reliving our childhood and admiring the art of carousel making before coming home and having lunch. Then we cast off and motored out of the Erie Canal into the Niagara River. The current was fairly strong, but we made steady progress up to the Black Rock lock. The lock is at the entrance to the Black Rock canal that runs parallel to the river, but keeps you out of the current which increases quickly from 1 to 2 knots down by the islands to 5 knots or more at the entrance to the Niagara River. We motored up through the canal, underOn the wall at Tonawanda a few bridges and then into the downtown area near Veterans Park where we looked around and then headed to our chosen anchorage which was in the old salt canal a short distance away. We tied up to a concrete wall which was in a sad state of disrepair, but in decent enough condition that we could safely tie up and spend a few days. Thank goodness for LARGE fenders!

The area was very sheltered; there was a brick wall to the West that protected it from Lake Erie, and to the South, the North and the East were the walls of the inlet. The North wall had been converted to a park; there were some wind decorations and other things that we decided to explore later but it looked like it was going to storm so we stayed put and watched Netflix before turning in.

We had called the marina and scheduled our mast to go up on Thursday, but Tuesday we called as the weather was nice and they said they would squeeze us in. We motored over at 10 and spent the next few hours getting the mast up. Once it was stable, we motored back to the wall and spent the afternoon tightening the rigging and getting the sails put on. We had an issue with the mainsail and one of the dutchman lines broke, so I had to fix that. Once we got the mainsail squared away we called it a day, went into shore, took Windsor to the beach and walked around the park. It was a very nicely done area, lots of wildflowers and butterflies, a few slides for small kids and a nice walking path. It was a pleasant surprise.

Wednesday we headed in to shore after I finished with work, and we walked down to the bike ferry, a pontoon boat that goes back and forth from Naval Park to Ferry Park, to allow people to get over to see the wildlife refuge and Wilkeson Point Park where we were tied up. It was only $1 per person each way, so we went over and because we had Windsor, we just explored the outside of the museum where all the memorials are located. They had monuments to everything, Marines, Army, Polish soldiers, Hispanic soldiers, even Gold Star families! It made for a nice walk and once done, we headed down the shoreline to Swannies for some drinks and chicken wings which were very good. We walked back another way searching for ice cream which we found eventually, hidden behind Hatch, a small restaurant complex at the mouth of the Buffalo river.

We enjoyed some good chocolate ice cream before walking to the front to Hatch where there was a small bar. We got a glass of wine and watched the sailboats head out and race on Wednesday evening. There were at least 50! It was a wonderful sight and there was a good wind to boot. We headed home on the ferry and met a couple on a Tartan 37, headed down South to Florida. We had a nice discussion with them and while walking, got to see a doe and her fawn in the nature preserve. They put on a little show for us posing for the camera, they were both so beautiful; God is truly a Great Creator.

Once back on board, Melanie made an Irish coffee for us and we watched the sun set before heading in to bed. Thursday we went to the Naval Museum and walked around the indoor and outdoor exhibits before coming back to the boat to take Windsor for a walk. There was an interesting array of exhibits, including a WWII destroyer and submarine, and a Vietnam era destroyer. We were beat after climbing up and down all the ladders in the ships, moving between floors to see the exhibits.

After work on Friday we walked to the grocery store for supplies, and then took an Uber back to the boat to pack everything away before heading to shore for one last drink at the park and to take Windsor for a walk. Saturday morning after breakfast we headed into the marina, filled up with water, bought some ice and then sailed out into the lake.

The wind was a good 15 to 20 knots, and after hoisting the sails, we sailed out of the harbor on starboard tack, perpendicular to our intended course so we made no progress until we tacked an hour or so later and started Westward. The sailing was good; there was a 2 foot chop with the occasional three to four foot wave, but we made steady progress with glorious sunshine and good winds. A great way to end a sailing adventure. We heard a report from a boat in Fairport on the radio that they had found a capsized aluminum runabout with at least one body floating in the water. The weather wasn’t that bad, but it was a sober reminder that nature takes no prisoners.

The wind dropped during the course of the day to 10 to 15, and by 5:30 pm we had sailed 30 miles with a mere 17 miles of progress toward our destination. It was going to be a looooong ride. After sunset, I took first watch and the wind dropped down to 10 to 12 knots. We were sailing along around 4 knots making good progress Westward. It was not too cold and the sky was clear so there was a beautiful display of stars. The stars were so thick it felt like the sail was slicing through them like a knife; the Milky Way was on display and looked like a line of a cloud across the sky it was so thick and clearly defined.

As we went further down the lake we passed a huge windmill farm on the Canadian side. All the windmills had red lights on top and they all flashed together, so there was about a 10 mile stretch of red lights turning on and off at exactly the same time, quite an unusual sight to see when you’re out in the middle of the lake. Around 1 am, an orange moon crept slowly up behind us out of the lake, quite ghostly looking, and it stayed orange until it was a good deal above the horizon. Melanie came up for her watch and I went back down for the night. By sunrise the next morning we were along the coast of Long Point close to the shoreline, so we tacked and headed back South towards the US shoreline. Our landfall was Erie Pennsylvania, and we sailed in close to shore before tacking away. The wind held up nicely through the morning and the afternoon and we were able to maintain an easy 5 knots. The wind switched later in the day more to the Southwest, which made our tacks across the lake a little less effective in gathering distance.

Around 2:30 p.m., the wind switched and abruptly dropped, leaving us with 2 to 3 ft waves and no wind to move us through them. Our boat speed went from 5 knots down to less than 2 in a matter of minutes and we were hobby horsing and bobbing around like a cork. We tried to get the boat going again, but the waves were too much and we were not able to get our speed back. We struggled with it for a while before finally giving in and turning on the engine and motoring. With the iron genny running, we were able to charge our batteries and make some good headway in a direction straight towards our objective. We were aiming for Kelleys Island, it was an anchorage we were familiar with and we knew that we could shower, do laundry and prepare for our return home there without too much effort. We motored until about 7pm along the shore and then the wind came up a bit giving us about a knot or so more of speed and some cooling relief from the heat, but not enough to turn the loud motor off and just sail alone.

We had an almost drama when Melanie went below to make some coffee and because the boat was heeling a bit, the flames from the burner started to partially come out of the burner’s volume control knob on the stove. I put the fire out with water, but then we could not turn the knob to close the burner control so we could open the top and put the cover back on. It took me a good half hour of sleuthing before I figured out how to do it, but that left us with only one working burner and another item on the to-do list for me to fix.

We decided that Melanie would take the first watch and I would do the late night watch. We decided to motor until I came on watch, and then we would turn off the motor and just sail so that Melanie could get some sleep. It was an exquisitely sunny day, the skies were clear but towards sunset it started to cloud up a little. The wind came up a little as well and boosted us towards our goal. Melanie went below and rustled up some dinner for us while we enjoyed our evening glass of wine and the beautiful air.

After sunset she took the first watch and I went below to sleep. With the motor running we were able to make between 5 and 6 knots. Around 1:30 Melanie turned off the motor and I came up for my watch. The winds were 15 to 20 and we were making good progress past Cleveland and out across the bight towards Kelleys Island. However the infamous Lake Erie chop reared its ugly head along with the wind. We started to hobby horse in the larger waves which slowed us considerably, so I turned off the auto pilot and tried to hand steer through it, but without any points of reference – no tell tails or horizon to see – it was difficult to sail a straight course. Our wind indicator was malfunctioning and its internal battery kept running down, so to use it I would have to turn it on to confirm a wind direction and then turn it off and manually steer to the appropriate compass heading.

It was frustrating and slow going during the course of the early morning as we headed west. Right around sunrise the wind suddenly increased quite dramatically from 15 knots up to 20 to 25 knots! I rolled up the staysail and laughed to myself; I had just finished listening to the weather forecast and it called for 5 to 10 knot winds in our area. As usual they were wrong. We were fighting a three to four ft chop which made life below very uncomfortable but we made good time as we continued slogging westward until we reached the eastern side of Point Pelee.

Then we tacked and headed South. Soon we were out of sight of land again, just water surrounding us, with the wind slowly switching to the southwest, turning our track from Huron towards Lorain. Our intention was to sail until we were able to make a tack for Pelee Island, but after bobbing around at under two knots for about 15 minutes I got impatient and we decided to turn on the iron genny.

What a difference it made! We were able to roll up the Yankee and carry the staysail and the mainsail and motor straight towards our destination at a healthy 4.5 knots. That changed our expected arrival time from 10pm to 5pm. As we motored on, the shore line of Pelee Island slowly came into view, followed by Middle Island and then the Kelleys Island shoreline and the all too familiar Perry’s monument on South Bass. We were approaching home. It was hazy and humid, so everything looked somewhat foggy, but unmistakenly familiar.

About 10 miles from Kelleys, the wind switched to the south east and we were able to turn off the motor and sail for a while, but of course as it always does, the wind pooped and so the last 5 miles we motor sailed into the anchorage at Kelleys. 2 miles before our anchorage the wind suddenly came up to 25! There were squalls and thunderstorms forecasted for the evening, so getting in was of premier importance.We scooted in to the anchorage, dropped the hook, lowered the dinghy and headed into shore so Windsor could get some land time. It had been almost 3 days since he had seen real grass.

We anchored at 5:15 and we were safely at rest; 7480 Nautical miles. We left Buffalo with the odometer at 7235 and it was straight line trip of 190 miles; we had done a lot of tacking! After dropping the anchor we went in to shore to take Windsor for a walk and to go to the store next to the campground for some chocolate ice cream. They were out of it! We ended up walking into town on the other side of the island where we ate dinner and then found an ice cream store that had our favorite flavor; caveman chocolate. After a good does of ice cream we walked back, collected our shower things at the boat and went in to shore to take a shower. There were storms coming, and we hastily returned back to the boat after showering, making it just in time; the rain started pelting us just as we were closing up the hatch for the night. We had a huge thunderstorm and it rained for hours, but we didn’t care, we were in bed asleep.

Next morning we awoke to clouds and we could tell there was a little breeze because we could feel it behind the trees. We decided to pull our anchor and sail over to Put-in-Bay so that I could work. We hoisted the main, pulled up the anchor and sailed off towards the Bay. Once around the corner of Kelleys the wind increased to about 15 out of the Southwest. It was a nice flat sail; it was good to be back in home waters. We made short work of the eight miles to Put-in-Bay, and soon we were anchored in front of the monument in our old spot. After a few hours work, we headed to shore to do laundry. The clouds gave way to humid sunshine, and our cool spot on the boat became hot and uncomfortable when on the mainland. It took us a while to find the laundry, tucked away out of sight of all the tourism. We got all the laundry finished and while it was running we visited Wharfside and had a cup of coffee. We talked to Bob and Elena, two of the people we knew that worked there, then went to Hooligans for dinner and walked back to the boat.

I had forgotten a load in the laundry; I thought there were two loads and there were actually 3, so after coming back to the boat I had to head back to shore and dry that load before returning. We spent the next few days unwinding at Middle Bass and Put-In-Bay before heading home on Saturday. On the way we scattered Jezzie’s ashes into the lake and then motored in to the welcoming arms of family and friends at our home dock on Catawba Island. We came to our final stop at 7499 miles.

Our adventure was over, but the memories of this trip will last forever. Thank you to all those friends and family who prayed for our safety every day, especially in harrowing situations. Prayer DOES make a difference. We saw it with our own eyes; storms parting to allow us safe passage, God providing a way for our motor to be repaired when we thought we would have to sell the boat, protection from an hour of continuous lightning, His blessing were numerous. Thank you Lord for allowing us to safely take this awesome adventure and to make it home in one piece. Our Lord is truly a great God!

The Hudson was choppy, rough and very busy. A few miles north of the city the traffic died down substantially and before long we were pretty much the only boat on the river. It was a nice, quiet, smooth journey with a good following current. At first the wind was at our back but by the time we got to the George Washington bridge the wind was dead on the nose. All we could do was motor with the staysail up but we made a good 6 or so knots up the river. The scenery was quite beautiful.

We passed under the Tappan Zee bridge which was under construction. The old steel girder bridge had been replaced with two suspension bridges, one for each lane of traffic. One bridge was finished, one was almost done and the old one was being dismantled. Just north of there in Ossining we anchored for the night. We woke next morning to a glorious cool clear morning, surrounded by hills to the East and cliffs to the West. After breakfast we took a walk into town for some groceries, stopped for a quick cup of coffee and then headed back to the boat to put our groceries away, then hauled anchor and hit the road. The wind was out of the North so once again we motor sailed with the staysail.

When we reached West Point, we decided to try to go ashore to take in a tour, but were told rather curtly on the radio that it is inaccessible by water. Disappointed, we ended up motoring up until the town of New Hamburg where we anchored in the river for the night. Next morning we caught the favorable current and motored up until we reached Kingston. We arrived around noon, dropped the anchor and waited for favorable current. The wind came up quite a bit, so we decided to sail even though there was a 2 knot current against us. It was slow going, we left Kingston during Peak counter-current, so even though we had a 15 knot following wind and our speed should have been close to 6 knots, we were moving between two and three. It was a pleasant sail, but the 8 mile trip to Saugerties took 4 hours! We eventually arrived and anchored in a very narrow river for the night. We went to shore, walked into town and found a nice restaurant where we had dinner and a few drinks before walking back to the boat.

Next morning we made a few phone calls and decided that Catskill was the spot where we would drop the mast. We waited until favorable current around 8 am, then hauled our anchor and headed out towards the Catskills. It was hot, still and very pretty. We made good time because we had a favorable 1.5 knot current. We anchored just north of the Rip Van Winkle bridge and started to take down sails. We figured that would save us a day of docking fees. It was hot. Very hot. Luckily there was a good wind and plenty of shade helped to keep us cool.

After we had the sails down we motored in to the marina, arriving around 4:30 pm. We walked into town and ate at a quaint restaurant that doubled as an ice cream shop. Right as we finished dinner they closed, so we had to wander elsewhere looking for some dessert. Luckily we found a place that was still open and enjoyed some good ice cream before heading back to the boat. It was very very hot and sticky. There was a promise of rain but nothing materialized.

We had tied up next to two boats coming from Quebec and headed south. They were having their masts raised and conveniently enough their equipment matched our purposes to a tee, so after their sticks went up, we took their trusses and with an hour or so of modification we were ready. They lifted our mast out of the hole through the cabin top and lowered it slowly on to the trusses and then we secured it down with straps. It looked a little unsteady, but the guys that were running the lift said that we did a good job and that everything looked fine. It was rather strange to have your mast above your head, it changed the way the boat behaves. It now rocked more quickly, much like a powerboat. It’s going to take a while to get used to the new feeling. After we had the mast fully secured we filled up with diesel, bought ice and then went back to the Rip Van Winkle bridge where we anchored for the night. It was much cooler out there with the wind blowing off the water.

We awoke the next morning and around 10 when the current was slack we hauled anchor and were able to take a favorable current all the way to our first lock which was in Troy. The river slowly narrowed to less than a quarter mile; we passed through Albany and then Troy where there was a quick lock to go over a spillway and then a short distance later we pulled into the entrance of the Erie Canal. There were free docks for tie up along with showers and water, so we took full advantage. We met a very nice couple on the way who also tied up and went out to dinner with him. They were from Muskegon in Michigan. After dinner we strolled back to the boat and collapsed exhausted. It was still hot and sticky. Next morning we headed out and ate breakfast at a diner that was very very inexpensive, $2 for eggs and toast! With a huge breakfast and coffee to boot our bill was less than $15, quite a nice surprise in New York where things have been unusually expensive.

We headed to the grocery store and the liquor store and picked up our necessities for the rest of the trip and then headed back. We were glad that we went early in the morning because it got very hot, steamy and uncomfortable. On the way back we passed a cherry tree packed with fruit, so we came back and picked cherries to our hearts content. We picked almost 2 quarts and after being in the hot sun for a while, we took our plunder and returned to the boat.

We ended up spending the afternoon watching Netflix with a fan running just to stay cool. After a light dinner we went to bed and woke early the next morning, grabbed a bag of ice and started the motor just as the first lock door was opening. We went through five locks in quick succession, going up about 200 feet and then motored for a while on the Mohawk River which is now part of the Erie Canal system. It was very picturesque, houses and small marinas dotted the sides of the canal, but for the most part it was green and heavily wooded and just absolutely beautiful.

Halfway between locks 6 and 7 our engine alarm came on. We shut down, dropped anchor and started to look for things that could be causing problems. First check was the strainer and although we had been going through relatively clear water, the strainer was quite clogged and looked like it was obstructing the flow of water. There was one big leaf caught in it and that would have been enough to severely restrict the flow. Our solution was to run the box fan blowing air on to the engine, and that cooled it down enough so that we were able to start motoring again after we had cleaned the strainer and put everything back together.

We made it up to lock 9, which is the eighth lock in the Erie Canal system and there we stopped for the night. There was a state park as well as an ice cream store, so the dog was happy and so were we. We took a walk to the store, then headed back to the boat and met a lock master named Clay. He was doing some maintenance work after hours and we chatted with him for quite a while before heading back to the boat.

Next morning we were up bright and early and after picking up some ice, we headed through the first lock, lock 9. It was a gorgeous morning, it had rained a little during the night so it was a bit cool and cloudy and there was not a breath of wind. After we motored out of the lock, we headed across a glassy, mirror like dam back into the canal system. It was lined with trees, bushes, rocks and all sorts of wildlife. We saw Kingbirds, Kingfishers flying around collecting dinner, Grackles, Killdeer, Osprey, Herons and Eagles; it was wonderful to see nature up close like this, so relaxing. After an hour or so, the wind came up a little bit from the West and offered us a cooling breeze.

We pulled in at lock 11 because it said there were some historic artifacts to be seen. We walked around aimlessly in the sweltering heat for about an hour before we realized that the artifacts had all been washed away in the flood from a few years back. We got back to the boat, cast off and headed westward. We went through beautiful mountain passes covered in trees of green, it was spectacular. Around 5, we pulled into Canajoharie and tied up at a free dock there. Melanie made a snack for us, and after eating, we headed to shore to explore.

It was very hot, so we really decided to just walk around the park where the dog was and talk to some of the locals. Then we turned in for the night. It was uncomfortably warm, train whistles blew all night long and the roar of I-90 right next to us made it difficult to sleep. Add to that the heat and humidity with no air conditioning and we were very uncomfortable. I slept well, Melanie did not. We awoke bright and early the next morning and went through lock 14 with a tug and continued up the Mohawk River. The river had narrowed quite substantially until it was only perhaps 50 yards wide, trees lined the bank with the odd cornfield poking through in between. We wound our way along the foothills of some mountain range to our North, through the pass towards Buffalo.

Just before we reached Lock 16, we pulled into a small RV campground right on the canal at Saint Johnsville to pick up ice and water. We continued on until we arrived at Lock 17. Just before we hailed the lock the heavens opened and it poured with rain. We were actually thankful, because it was so hot and windless and we were both very overheated. The rain cooled us down quite a bit, washed the boat a little and when it let up we went into the lock. It was an unusual one, the East gate was actually an up and down gate, not the opening doors which most of the other locks had. They lifted the gate, we drove under, then they closed it behind us. It was the largest lock we have been in on the canal so far and the lift was over 40 feet. When the doors opened we left and headed for lock 18 which we passed through without incident and shortly after leaving the lock, we decided to pull over in Herkimer for the night. While trying to tie up to the wall we ran aground – twice! Our poor overworked engine managed to get us off, but we were a little rattled. We ended up tying up in about 8 feet of water right at the very end of the dock, about as far East as you can go without actually leaving, then Melanie made us each a stiff drink.

It poured all night long, and didn’t let up until the next morning about 9. After breakfast we decided we would head out to do laundry, so we packed up our stuff, left the boat and decided to visit the gift shop right near where we were tied up. Its a good thing that we did, because 2 minutes after we got inside it started pouring again! It rained and rained and after talking with the staff for a while we decided it was better to just hit the road and do laundry elsewhere. It finally stopped raining around 11 and we were on the road by noon, once again headed west into a somewhat hazy sky due to the humidity and rain. The canal closed around us until it was perhaps only a hundred feet wide as we motored up the tree-lined “road” towards lock 19.

Our next stop was a short two miles up the canal, Ilion. We tied up at a free dock, and took a short walk into town to the Remington Arms Factory Museum. It was a fascinating history on the development and manufacture of Remington rifles and pistols. After the tour we spoke to one of the people that had worked there for quite a while, then walked back to the boat, stopping for an ice cream at Stewart’s and then at Aldi for a few quick necessities. It was 3 p.m. by the time we arrived back at the boat, so we hastily cast off and set out for the next lock which was about 7 miles away.

We passed through the lock without incident, and motored up to lock 20 where we tied up on the wall for the night. Next morning around 7:30 we passed through; the wall was very pitted and with the currents in the lock as they let in the water, it was difficult keeping the boat off the wall. Right after we left the lock we ran aground. They were doing dredging work and the barge that was dredging was anchored across the channel, and as I moved to go around it, we ran aground. They had to straighten themselves out and luckily we were able to motor off and then motor through the area where the barge used to be. There was a lot of debris and a lot of shallow spots that they apparently appear to be working on; many downed trees and rotten, dead stumps litter the canal. It does need some maintenance.

We stopped in Rome, walked to Fort Stanwix, then headed over to Ace Hardware to buy more cooking alcohol. The fort was a recreation, built to the original plans and was quite spectacular. It was rebuilt in 1976 and is by far the best representation of an old Revolutionary War Fort that we have seen. We thoroughly enjoyed visiting it before heading back and casting off, heading Westward once again.

The area between lock 20 and lock 21 is a watershed. We were going up in lock 20, and lock 21 was headed down towards Lake Oneida. Fort Stanwix was built to protect the portage between the two from marauding Indians and and thieves. Goods were shipped up the Mohawk River and then carried 6 miles across to Wood Creek where they were loaded on and taken down to Oneida and Westward. The Erie Canal took care of that Portage.

We passed through lock 21 and then a short mile later, lock 22, which dropped us a total of 50 feet. We then motored to Sylvan, a small vacation town located at the entrance to Lake Oneida and there we tied up for the night. We took a walk around the area near the city dock and then bought some takeout food at a small restaurant. We met another boater headed west to Lake Superior; he and his crew came aboard our boat and we chatted a while. Next morning we filled up, pumped out and motored across Lake Oneida to the other side where we spent the night at a small Marina called Ess-Kay. It was very quaint, quiet, clean and well-kept. The owners were very personable and we enjoyed letting Windsor run free and play with their dog. They had a courtesy car which they lent us so we could run a few errands and do laundry. It was a wonderful stay. Next morning we headed out to lock 23 which was a few miles away, off again headed westward.

We motored down the canal through lock 23 and lock 24 before coming to Cross Lake where we anchored in the southwest corner for the night. This lake is about the size of Alum Creek, although not quite as narrow in the middle. Very scenic with homes all around and not particularly busy. It was a calm, restful night. After breakfast the next morning we hauled anchor and headed west. The distance between lock 24 and 25 is 31 miles and we had done about 8 to get to Cross Lake, so we had a fairly long motor ahead of us before the next lift. It was very picturesque, a carpet of green on each side but there was also a lot of water weed. Hyacinth is starting to choke out the channel. We did see some “mowers” that harvested the stuff, people were driving them around attempting to vacuum it up to keep the waterway clear.

We passed through locks 25 and 26 before pulling over in Clyde. The city dock had water, shore power and a pump out, so it was a good spot to stop and stretch our legs. The town was pretty much closed up, almost too deserted for a Saturday, so we headed back to the boat after walking around and looking at some of the older architecture, took in some Netflix and went to bed. It rained during the night and we slept in, we never left until about 10 a.m. the next morning.

Melanie cooked breakfast while we were on the way, continuing down the green leafy road called The Erie Canal which at this point was only 75 to 100 feet wide. Between locks 28B and lock 29, we passed a barge being pushed by a tug! The river was only 60 to 70 feet wide at that point! It was a little harrowing trying to edge past each other safely and not run aground, but we managed somehow and then continued on our way. Just before lock 29, we stopped under an overpass which was a close walk to a grocery store. Melanie went to pick up a few things while I waited with the boat. Then we were on our way, passing through locks 29 and 30 and tying up to the wall just after lock 30 to explore the park. There was not as much there as we were led to believe; part of the old Canal which is now being used as a spillway, and huge wooden boxes that were used like anchors. There was also a little butterfly park we took a walk in; very cute. I walked into the gas station in town to pick up some ice and there was not much there either. Town was pretty deserted; everything was closed but being a Sunday that was not surprising.

Next morning we left around 10 a.m., motored through locks 32 and 33 and then down the narrow gorge carved into the rock outside of Rochester. In some places the cliffs on either side were 40 foot high. The glare from the clouds caused us to miss spotting a huge tree trunk which we hit at full speed. We were horrified. We threw the boat into neutral, slowed it down and checked for damage. We still had steerage and we did not appear to have any leaks so I think the keel probably spun the log and pushed it out of the way and it did not damage the propeller shaft. We posted a watch on the bow of the boat so that I would have enough time to avoid any in the future. The glare on the water made it very difficult for me to see what was ahead down low.

We arrived at Spencerport just before 5pm, ahead of the Glass blowing barge that was touring the canal ports. We registered, then headed into town, a short block away and enjoyed dinner outside at an Irish pub which served some superb food.

The second day in Spencerport we did laundry, and in late afternoon met a couple from New Hampshire that was doing the canal in an 18-foot Hunter! We chatted long into the night with them and had a wonderful evening. Towards bedtime it started raining and it poured all night long, not stopping until 11 in the morning. We took our time, slept in and were generally lazy. When the rain stopped, we headed in for a cup of coffee and then said our goodbyes and cast off. The lift bridge was unusual. Most have towers and the bridge is hoisted up the tower. This one was underground and pushed the bridge up. Very unusual.

We motored until about 6 p.m. and pulled into the canal Port of Medina. We tied up there to a free wall with electric and water, and after an afternoon drink, we walked into town to explore. The town is renowned for its sandstone, and there were many buildings constructed with that material that have been restored and are quite beautiful. We stopped at an Irish Pub, ate dinner and chatted to a few of the patrons before heading back to the boat to watch a little TV and hit the sack. Next morning I did a little bit of work while Melanie relaxed and then we walked into town to the railroad museum. It was the most spectacular collection of railroad related memorabilia that I have ever seen. Quite an amazing display. Then we headed back to the boat, cast off and headed westward to our next Port, Lockport. It was only a 3 hour motor, and after passing through the double locks, 34 and 35, we pulled over at a free wall and tied up for the night. I took a quick trip to a gas station for ice before we settled in to enjoy the evening.

Next morning we took a walk down to the lock district and had a good cup of coffee before heading down to the locks where we poked around. The famous “flight of five” original locks are still there and were converted into a spillway right next to the current working locks. They have all kinds of stuff from pictures of the construction to memorabilia and original equipment from the historic lock period. It was a fascinating tour; we got to watch an interesting phenomenon; a boat going down and one coming up at the same time. Our morning culminated with a hearty late breakfast at a local diner. Then we went ziplining across the Erie canal and celebrated afterwards with some ice cream from a famous local shop. After a full day, we headed back to the boat and relaxed for the evening. Melanie made a yummy chicken stew which we gobbled down before settling in for the night.

We started slowly the next morning, after breakfast we went down to the lock district, had a cup of coffee and went to the farmers market that was open on Saturdays. We bought a few veggies, some cheese and then a bag of ice and headed back to the boat. We did our preliminary checks, started the motor, cast of and headed Westward. After Lockport the canal goes through a man-made gorge. The water is about 15 ft lower than the surrounding land, so it’s like a tunnel on each side of rocks and trees, very scenic. Then the gorge gradually flattened out until we motoring down the Tonawanda river through the suburbs on the outskirts of Buffalo. We arrived around 3pm and tied up at Gateway park near where the river merges with the Niagara River. Our canal adventure was over and now it was time to become a sailboat again and head to our home port.

Bright and early the next morning we were up and on the road again, motoring because there was absolutely no wind. The sea was smooth without even a cat’s paw, so on it was with the iron genny and we motored our way towards Newport. It was beautiful and sunny, some high clouds but it looked to be a nice, warm day. The wind gradually increased, and around 2 hours into the journey we were able to turn off the motor and ended up with a glorious sail to Newport. Winds were 15 to 20 knots and we made quick work of the 45 miles needed to get there, arriving before 4pm and anchoring just south of Goat Island in front of the city.

One of Melanie’s school friends lives here, so we met Joan and her husband Bill for lunch the following day and then walked back to their home where we met their son, daughter-in-law and grand daughter. We spent a lovely afternoon with them and then walked back to the boat and picked up the dog to take him for a walk. We stopped at an Irish pub for a good Irish coffee before heading back to the boat for the night.

After work the next day we headed in to shore with the intent of doing laundry and Melanie, in passing our full, cumbersome bag of laundry over the rail to me in the dinghy, threw out her back, so after finished the laundry we spent the afternoon Ubering to a chiropractor who got her walking again, and then to West Marine for oil change and toilet stuff. Our head is going to need a rebuild – ugh – the joys of boat life. After errands we headed back to the boat and watched a few shows while Melanie relaxed in an effort to get her back to calm down. She was feeling much better, so we went out for a drink and some pizza with our friends from Germany. Everyone is abuzz about the World Cup, so we arranged to go the following day to watch Germany play in their second match against Sweden.

Next morning we headed into shore to do some grocery shopping. We picked up a few things from the hardware store as well and then stopped at the health food market for a good cup of coffee before heading to the boat to unpack our groceries. Then we were back to shore where we headed up to the FedEx store to mail a small gift for our new grandbaby Jemma. Then a quick stroll down through the historic section to Buskers, an Irish bar where we watched the World Cup. Germany was playing Sweden and our friends were there spellbound. A last minute goal helped Germany to a much needed win. After that we strolled over to the Newport Shipyard, there were a lot of power boats but very few sailboats there; I guess we were lucky on our last visit. We made our way back slowly to our dock, and found some ice cream along the way. Once back we watched some shows before heading off to bed. It was cold and we really didn’t feel like doing a whole lot except snuggling up and watching Netflix.

We woke rather late and were slow to get going, but once we’d had a cup of coffee we went into shore and took a shower, had a light breakfast, said our goodbyes and then hauled anchor and departed. It was a cloudy, dreary day and right as we were leaving the sun peeked out just a bit. We raised our sails and decided to sail out of the harbor as there was really nice wind blowing for a change. We beat out of the harbor into an incoming tide and a dying wind until we got to the point where after 2 miles of progress in three hours of sailing we bagged it and turned the motor on so we could make better headway. Our old friend Mr. Fog settled down as well and soon we were surrounded in a shroud of white with very low visibility.

We poked our way cautiously through the fog until we were near the approaches of the entrance to Block Island Harbor. Right then the fog lifted and we were able to enter the harbor and anchor with good visibility. We snuggled in for the night and watched Netflix and during the night the weather turned and we had rain, thunder and lightning until morning. The next morning the wind was out of the North at 15 to 25 knots and it was gloriously sunny! After work we headed out and set sail towards the Connecticut River.

In looking at our destination, we thought we would have a nice beam reach but the reality of it was the wind was coming from dead ahead, just like always. Close hauled in 20 to 25 knots made for a slow, bumpy ride. Thankfully it was sunny but still a little chilly. The waves bouncing around between the the islands made for a very ugly chop; I could see at least four different directions that swells were coming from. When they all hit us at the same time, our speed would drop down from 5 to less than 2 knots! It was quite frustrating trying to make decent headway through the sloppy mess.

As we neared the entrance of the Long Island Sound, the chop seemed to lessen a little bit and the wave directions became more predictable. The wind slowly died and around 4:30 we decided to start the engine. Within 5 minutes of starting the engine the wind switched from the Northwest to the Southeast and came up enough that it gave us about a half a knot of speed. We decided to continue motoring at that point because we wanted to get in to our destination before sunset. We had five miles to Fishers Island and then another 13 miles beyond that to get to the Connecticut River.

Within 5 minutes of starting the engine we turned it off. The wind came up to 10 to 15 knots and we were able to move comfortably under sail between 4 1/2 and 5 knots, so no need to use the iron genny in those circumstances. We had a nice following swell and an incoming tide with a little current to help us so our rough ride when we left Block Island was now nice and smooth and we had glorious sunshine to help warm us.

We passed through the race which is the entrance to Long Island Sound and our speed increased to over 7 briefly but then as we got further into the sound the wind slowly died until we reluctantly started the motor. It was a a good day’s sail; a good six hours before we fired up the motor to ensure we would be in Old Saybrook before dark.

We pulled in just before sunset, and after a nightcap we headed below to watch Netflix. After work the next morning we dropped the dinghy and headed into shore. We spoke to a few locals for a while and then walked into town to do a little exploring. We found the Katharine Hepburn Museum and toured it, spoke to the curator for quite a while and then found a gluten free vegan deli where we had coffee and a yummy treat.

We walked around a little more, exploring the local area and then headed back towards the boat, passing through a cemetery on the way where we found the tombstone of Art Carney. Then we stopped at the local Yacht Club and chatted to a few people there before heading back to the boat for dinner. Next morning after breakfast we dropped our mooring and headed off. The water was glassy. There was almost no wind and it ended up being an all-day motor.

We went into New Haven and just before entering the main break wall the wind came up so we sailed with the motor on for a short period of time. We motored down into what looked to be the heart of the city and dropped anchor. There was supposed to be stuff to see; there wasn’t. After scoping out the land with binoculars we realized there was really nowhere to go ashore, so we hauled our anchor and headed off to Morris Cove which is closer to the entrance of the harbor.

It was late, so we did not go ashore. We ate a light snack for dinner and then watched a few shows before turning in. The mooring, although sheltered was rather uncomfortable. There was a gentle swell from the South that kept us rolling back and forth all night. On top of that, a front was on the way towards us, and it arrived around 9pm. It started with gentle rain which lulled us to sleep, but at 5:30 am I awoke to the sound of thunder. Windsor was scared of the lightning and so I got up and went and laid in the salon so he would have someone to “keep him safe”. It stormed for hours! The lightning and thunder only lasted about an hour and a half, but it rained hard for a good 5 hours. That is of course when the leaks started – all those little drips that are so hard to find became steady streams, like flowing rivers and we had plenty of them.

We diagnosed the worst of them and determined that our stays needed to be re-bedded. A few hot days to dry things out and that will be another item on the to-do list. We decided to motor over to Jefferson Harbor, across on Long Island, and spend a few nights there. The harbor is home to Setauket, the home town of many of the individuals that worked in Washington’s spy ring during the battle for independence. We left to the promise of a sunny day; the clouds burned off and things started to dry out but as before, no wind. So once again we ended up motoring the 20 odd miles it took to get there. We noticed when we were about 10 miles away that the skies to the North and West were darkening. When we checked radar, we found a nasty line of thunderstorms racing towards us. It looked like they could perhaps miss us, so we motored on and prayed they would head North of us. They held off for an amazingly long time, but 5 or 6 miles from the harbor our luck ran out.

The rain came skipping across the water, starting off as an intermittent drizzle, then increasing to a steady rain, all the while lightning and thunder strolled back and forth in the heavy overcast to our North. Then we saw a wall of mist coming towards us. It was the rain storm; it had moved south of us and was wrapping around and enclosing us. Winds were not too bad but we had dropped our sails already just in case. Windsor was downstairs and we were togged up in our foulies and ready for battle. It POURED, visibility was less than a 100 yards and we were subjected to continuous lightning and thunder for almost an hour while we relied on our compass and charts to keep us going in the right direction. Huge strikes of lightning slammed into the water all around us, the closest struck less than a half mile away. We huddled under the bimini top and used an umbrella to help keep the rain off us (worked surprisingly well) and Melanie read Psalm 91 while I wrestled the boat towards the harbor entrance. About a mile from the channel, the rain let up and visibility improved enough so I could see the harbor entrance and the lay of the land.

We motored in and by the time we had found our spot and dropped anchor, the rain was done, the sun had peeked out and we were treated to a full rainbow. We were cold and wet, but nevertheless sat up and enjoyed a stiff drink before heading down below for the night. After breakfast the next morning, we hauled anchor and motored down to the mooring ball field – we picked up a ball for a night so we could do laundry and get a real shower. After settling in, we took the dinghy and motored the 2 miles over to Setauket harbor and walked around looking for spy stuff. We found the tomb of Abraham Woodhull, the first minister of the church Nathaniel Tallmadge, and the homes of Caleb Brewster and Benjamin Tallmadge when they were growing up. We enjoyed walking around although it got very, very hot and soon we were starving.

We found the SE-Port deli which we found out later was quite well known and bought a lunch there which was WAY more than we could eat. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs and we ended up leaving half of it for later on. We motored back to the boar and then Melanie mixed up some nice refreshing drinks which we sucked down all to quickly before finishing the rest of the food and then watching the remainder of the series Turn. Next morning started out promising but the wind quickly died. After laundry and a visit to the local coffee shop, we took showers, headed back to the boat and then filled up with water and took off, our next stop Oyster Bay. This is another area of the country where a lot of the espionage activity took place.

We dropped anchor around 6 p.m., had a few drinks and some light snacks before going down below at sunset and watching the last episode of Turn again; we had fallen asleep the previous night while watching and missed the final wrap-up. After breakfast we headed into shore and found a spot to leave the dinghy and we walked into town. We found a nice coffee shop after talking to a local and there we enjoyed a good cup of coffee and a gluten free breakfast wrap while trying to watch some local news. I am so glad there is no TV on the boat, the news is wrong, misleading and divisive – we were forced to opt out while traveling and I am so glad we did!

We strolled around and found the Historical Society and the Raynham Museum, home of Robert Townsend. They didn’t open until 1 p.m. so we decided to find a place that sold ice cream to help us cool off. It was quite a walk and in the heat of the day we ended up hot and sweaty by the time we arrived there. We enjoyed some good cold chocolate ice cream before walking back to the historical society and taking a tour. Then we went over to the Raynham house and took a tour through Robert Townsend’s family home. There was so much history there, it was very nice to see how it all tied together with the series we had just finished watching. We thoroughly enjoyed our day and around 6 we headed back to the sailing club where we had left the dinghy and had a few drinks before heading back to the boat. We struck up a conversation with Tony, one of the members and had an enjoyable discussion before heading back to the boat at sunset and collapsing into bed.

We were up early the next morning, anchor up and out of Oyster Bay. On the way we passed Billy Joel’s house and the largest sailboat I have seen on this trip. It was huge! Once out into the sound to our surprise the wind was strong enough for us to be able to sail down towards New York without the incessant thumping of the motor. It had been almost a week since we could travel without running the engine. We made good progress, picking up a few balloons along the way, but it was very hazy and hot. By 10 a.m. it was 87 degrees and the visibility was less than 5 miles.

At the point just beyond Oyster Bay, Long Island Sound is only about 5 miles wide; we were about a mile from Long Island and four miles from Connecticut and we could not see the Connecticut coastline! All this pollution and haze, I’m glad we don’t live here! As we came closer to the city, the pollution and smog got thicker. A few miles off Port Washington, visibility was down to less than two and a half miles! There were boats we could see on our chart plotter that we could not see even with binoculars and they were less than 3 miles away.

We motored down the East River through Hell’s Gate and then out to the Statue of Liberty where we dropped anchor between her and the shore. Next day we headed into the marina and took a ferry over to see Ground Zero and walked a little bit of the surrounding area. We saw the church where Washington gave his inaugural address and just strolled around enjoying the neighborhood. We spent a good few hours down there before returning back to the boat. We were all hot, sticky and tired. We spent the 4th on the boat just relaxing and during the afternoon a protester climbed the outside of the statue. The island was evacuated and we had front row seats to the SWAT team climbing the statue and taking her into custody. What an afternoon!

Later that evening one of our boat neighbors that was anchored near us came over and we watched the fireworks together. Unfortunately they were a little further up the East River than we thought and they ended up going off behind all the buildings at the South end of Manhattan; we saw very little. We were so disappointed. After the fireworks were over we were sitting around talking and then fireworks started up again, this time on the Hudson River just north of where we were and we had a ringside seat for those. So although we didn’t see the main fireworks we got to see quite a spectacular display of twin fireworks; they shot identical shells up on the New Jersey and the New York side of the river and it was quite a show. After they finished our friend left and we retired to bed exhausted.

Thursday started early; on our trip ashore on Tuesday we had booked 9am tickets on the Jersey ferry over to the Statue and Ellis Island. We were up and running early so we could motor the 40 minutes or so to a local marina where we left the dinghy and walked to the ferry. Our trip was wonderful. There is so much history there. We spent about 4 hours walking through the museum on Ellis Island, watched a few documentaries, ate lunch and then headed over to the statue for a few hours before coming back to the boat. The wind really picked up during the day and blew the smog away, so we had our first clear day in the city. This also made for a nice 2 to 3 ft chop in the bay, so our dinghy ride back to the boat got us both soaked. We toasted the day and after a light dinner watched a few shows before heading to bed. We awoke the next morning to thunder and the sound of rain. It rained on and off for most of the day, so we stayed aboard and planned our last trip into the city to visit Roy, his wife and kids. Roy played football with Aaron, Melanie’s 3rd son, in high school and he lives right on the Hudson across from Manhattan.

In the afternoon the wind switched from the south to the West and came up to between 25 and 30 knots. It howled all night long and got so bad that I got up at about 2 a.m. and lashed the windmill so that it would not spin because it was going so fast I was afraid that it would try and take off on us again as it has twice before. It was still blowing 20 to 25 in the morning  when we hauled anchor and motored in to do errands and laundry. It took almost an hour to go the 2 miles as the tide was headed out, and there was a 3 knot current fighting our progress.

The marina had a 2-hour courtesy dock, so we came in, took showers, did our laundry, and then filled with water and diesel before heading over to Surf City, a restaurant on the other side of the cove to meet Roy and Jenny and their kids for lunch. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch with them, and after our goodbyes we dropped our dock lines, motored out into the Hudson and turned North, headed for Albany and home.